10 Things I Hate in Lolita

Alas, while I had lots of fun writing up the Things I Love post, its counterpart was also on the list. Here we go!

1. Having Money but Nothing You Like on the Comm Sales

Every Lolita's curse. This usually goes double for things like shoes or accessories needed to complete a coordinate. And then, the second you buy something, your dream dress pops up!

2. A Lot of the Brand Plus-Sized Options

Let's face it: a majority of plus-sized friendly options coming out of brands look terrible on plus-sized figures. Full back shirring is great, and I'm glad that the brands are at least open to the idea of larger sizes, but the current options on Angelic Pretty's USA site need a B-cup bust or smaller to actually look like a waistline, and Baby (though they often have some decent old school, fully-shirred pieces) does similarly if they choose shirring at all.

3. Driving in Lolita

Because I have a small car, and no one likes to squish themselves into the driver's seat.

4. Rocking Horse Shoes

This is a personal problem. I like how rocking horse shoes look, and I can appreciate it when coordinates make good use of them, but RHS and I just can't seem to get along. I only bought one pair, and I only wore them once. I fell down so many times that day, and still have a scar on my leg from one of the worst tumbles. At the end of the day, one of the shoes even broke beyond repair. I went on to my home comm's page and asked how in the world people walked in these, only to be met with a dozen comments like "I don't know what you're talking about, I stumble, but I never have any real trouble with them. :)" I swore that day to never get RHS again.

5. Angelic Pretty Custom Lace

It's totally cute, and I get why AP fans love it, but I just have this irrational dislike for it. I think it's because when I was in my early Lolita days and still researching, I had it drilled into my head that lace with a net base was Bad, and only things like eyelet, cluny, or Venice lace were acceptable.

6. LaceMarket and Lolibrary Constantly Going Offline

I generally like both of these websites: Lolibrary is obviously the best database of brand items we have right now, and LaceMarket makes purchasing and selling pretty easy, especially since I don't do anything on LiveJournal (I came into the fashion after Facebook became the primary platform for Lolita communities). However, if you've ever used either of them, then you probably know that they go down all the time. It gets annoying.

7. Antlers

This is another personal choice. I just don't like the antler headpieces, and I'm kind of glad that the trend is dying. They're very pretty when done well, but I can't help but lump it in with animal ears, which are also a Lolita no-go.

8. Toy Prints

I have one exception to this: I love Melody Toys. Stuffed animals playing in a little musical ensemble are just so adorable. Other than that, I've never really been into toy prints.

9. Cleaning Your Dresses

Most of my Lolita wardrobe is, luckily, able to get wet, but that doesn't stop it from being a pain. Though, honestly, the drying part has always been the phase I hate most. I can't use my shower for quite a while, and no matter what I do, the floor always seems to get wet.

10. Not having stock photos or info for older pieces

I don't know why, but I love having the release information about my dresses! What are the official measurements, what year did it come out, what did the stock photos look like? Unfortunately, some of my older and rarer pieces (*coughRibbonDollcough*) have rather lackluster Lolibrary entries and terrible stock photos.

What are some things that you dislike in or about Lolita fashion? Let me know in the comments below!

Share a Piece of Lolita Advice

This was the 365 Lifestyle Lolita topic for April 22nd, but I wanted to really think about this before posting. I've been a part of the fashion for about four years, now, but I still feel like I'm brand new, so being asked to give advice to Lolitas is a little... eh.

I feel more comfortable directing my advice towards new Lolitas, or people who are thinking about jumping into the fashion and are working on their first coordinate. I'm new enough that my own closet is still recovering from newbie mistakes, but I've been around long enough to recognize what my mistakes were, and how to fix them.

So, Floating on Macaron's First Rule of Lolita:

Your Dress is Not the Only Part of Your Coordinate

From lolitafashion.org

This really sounds like a no-brainer, but half of the people I see getting ripped on for being "ita" get it because they're wearing a dress and shoes... and nothing else. You need your petticoat, your blouse or cardigan, your headwear, your socks, and your accessories, and it all has to go well together.

Made with the Sweet LolitaMega Dressup game
on DollDivine

I whipped this up on a dollmaker, and it isn't terribly far off from what I was talking about above. Your dress can be as cute as can be, but this isn't a full outfit, and doesn't look like one. Not for Lolita, anyway. However, a blouse and a few accessories can fix this:

No, I didn't change her facial
expression; this is just what the
doll looks like with lip gloss on.

Lace-topped socks, a white blouse, a pink headbow, pink purse, and a floral corsage make a simple, but very cute coordinate.

My closet fell very hard into this trap: I have tons of dresses, but almost no blouses or proper accessories, and definitely not enough socks. Even my shoes are suffering, because two of my go-to pairs crapped out on me within the last year.

I'm currently holding off on buying new blouses for a few reasons, but that just means I can focus on saving to replace my shoes (I need two or three pairs at least just to round out my outfits) and to collect more accessories (thank God for OPs).

I know that Lolita fashion is expensive, and that even a cheap outfit will still run you around $100, but it's so worth it. If you put in the effort, you'll be rewarded with a very special, beautiful outfit.

What's your first rule of Lolita? Let me know in the comments below!

Macaron Madness! (Coordinate)

We had a topic from the 365 Lifestyle Lolita Challenge that was pretty easy: build a coordinate around a dessert! I've had macarons on the mind, recently, and I'm pretty in love with an Innocent World print from a couple of years ago, so that's what I decided to throw together on PolyVore!

The JSK is Innocent World's Patisseries de Paris JSK in beige with the matching socks, Inocent World shoes, a Magic Tea Party blouse, a headbow from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, and a couple of accessories from Etsy.

Did you make a coordinate for this challenge? Let me know or link me to it in the comments below!

10 Things I Love in Lolita

Day Two of the 30 Day Lolita Challenge is all about things you love in or about Lolita! Here we go!

1. Fancy Bloomers 

I just love lace-trimmed and pintucked bloomers! I know they aren't meant to be seen, but having fancy underwear is just fun.

2. Gothic and Lolita Bibles

I'd never been that into fashion magazines until I finally bought a Bible a little more than a year ago, and now I can't get enough of them! I especially love looking at street snaps, the makeup and hair guides, and the sticker pages.

3. Non-Print Dresses

Finding a good stock photo of this OP is nearly
impossible.

Don't get me wrong, I love and adore prints, too, but the solid pieces are detail-heavy in a completely different way. I love to see a dress have the lace, ruffles, pintucks, and ribbons piled on, like Innocent World's Ribbon Doll OP.

4. Casual Lolita

Taking something as fancy as Lolita and then turning it into casual, everyday wear is highly appealing to me, because it lets me wear my frills on lazy days when I don't want to go the extra mile, or even the whole one. Some days, I just want to look sweet and girly!

5. Cat Prints

Sleepy kitties!!!

I once saw a large sales post on the comm sales and almost every piece was a cat print. My heart skipped a beat before it started racing, and I can remember thinking "I wish I was brave enough to have that wardrobe." I still don't own any cat prints, but I have my heart set on a couple-- I'm forever kicking myself for missing the release of Meta's Dozing Cat!

6. Novelty Pillows



I'm not a particular fan of the Decoration Dream dress, but I love seeing this cute pillow on my bed! I also have the yellow Sweet Jam cushion, and I'd love to collect more!

7. Parasols



Another one of my favorite accessories, parasols are just the perfect touch for a lot of coordinates. I'm glad that Baby sells them for around $45-50, because I always have a hard time finding them on the secondhand sales. I'd love to be able to find one with the little curlicue handle!

8. Handmade Accessories



Now, I don't own a lot of handmade things, and I'm not great at making things, myself, but I love that the community as a whole has a real love affair with crafting their own pieces! It's a great way to get that final addition that matches your coordinate perfectly.

9. Apron Skirts

The brands don't put out too many of these, anymore, but I'm still obsessed with them! Something about it just makes it look more like a period piece, but not too maid-ish or Alice-like. Last year, Angelic Pretty put one out as part of their Wonder Gallery series, and I really hope they make a comeback.

10. The Jokes



It's no secret that I dislike Behind the Bows as a whole. Backbiting and internet hate are terrible, and not what I'm talking about. I mean the things you can find on the Lolita Memes in English page on Facebook, humor videos on Youtube, and occasionally BtB. The nice, silly ones usually brighten my day a little.

What are things that you love in or about Lolita? Let me know in the comments below!

10 Items From My Wishlist

So you'll notice that there's been a change to the blog: the name is different! I finally decided to go with "Floating on Macarons" instead of Grisaille Dreams in Color. I like it better, I think. Anyway, on to the blogging challenge!

This is a topic from the 30 Day Lolita Challenge (you can find the original list here) that caught my eye. I have an extensive wishlist, so I'll just have to boil it down to 10 dream dresses!

1. Melty Ribbon Chocolate JSK by Angelic Pretty

2. Fancy Rose JSK by Angelic Pretty

3. Chocolat-Chan Going Out JSK by Angelic Pretty

4. Dozing Cat Bustle Pinafore JSK by Metamorphose Temps de Fille

5. Horror Garden JSK by Angelic Pretty

6. Wonder Story JSK by Angelic Pretty

7. Fairy Tale Square JSK by Innocent World

8. Bambi de la Forêt Secrete ~Petite Princesse de la Forêt JSK I by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

9. Strawberry Jam Long JSK by Innocent World

10. Kuma-Chan's Christmas Holly Night Ribbon JSK by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

It's funny because I started slapping down dresses and I noticed a couple things about my list: first, while I love OPs and wish I had more, almost my entire wishlist is made of JSKs. Second, I claim that Baby is my favorite brand, but half of my wishlist is Angelic Pretty. I think I'm a closet AP fangirl.

Anyway, what's on your wishlist? Let me know or post links in the comments below!

10 Things About My Lolita Bubble

Another 30 Day Lolita Challenge!

What is a Lolita bubble, anyway? That's such an interesting term, one that was hard to define cohesively for the dozens of blogs that have written for this exact topic. I just started writing about my Lolita world, and a lot of them turned out to be kind of personal and heavy (please be advised, I do talk a little bit about depression).

1. Bloomers are a must.

There's no question for me about whether I should or shouldn't wear bloomers. I went to college in a windy-ass town (we always questioned why Chicago was "The Windy City" and we weren't) that commonly had temperatures below freezing during winter. I always wear bloomers. Even in the summer, out of pure habit.

2. I love skirt + blouse combos

The skirt+blouse coordinate is oddly enough my favorite (as opposed to JSKs or OPs). They look cute, comfortable, and, most importantly, they make Lolita fashion look like street fashion, or everyday wear. That's the kind of Lolita that I love, because that's the kind of Lolita I want to be. I'd really like to have half of my main pieces be skirts, someday.

3. My family hates Lolita

I started keeping my Lolita clothes in a large trunk just so I wouldn't have to deal with the flak I'd catch. My grandmother hates the price tag, and my mother desperately wanted (and still wants) me to be "normal," which Lolita definitely is not. She's also one of those people who has to insult choices that she doesn't agree with, so hearing "You look fat" and "I'm surprised your boyfriend said you looked nice in that" got very tiring very quickly. I altogether stopped wearing it around them, though I recently ended up wearing a coord to Easter dinner because I had a convention that day. Luckily...

4. My boyfriend encourages my Lolita habit

He's a big believer of having off-beat interests, and dressing as you wish to dress, and he entirely supports this for me. In fact, he's the one who gave me my trunk, as a birthday gift. Now that we live together, he's often urging me to RSVP to meet-ups and getting dressed to hang out with my "frilly friends," as he calls my fellow comm members, and if he sees that I'm wearing even half a coordinate, he makes sure to tell me that I look nice because he knows how much that means to me.

5. My Lolita superpower is finding great-condition brand skirts for less than $60

And they almost never fit me, so I don't end up buying them. The stars aligned for me only once, and I ended up snatching up a "heavily damaged" (there wasn't even a stray thread) Bunny Milk and Snow Strawberry skirt for $40. Seriously, though, if I had more friends in my comms, I'd be the one they go to if they needed a cheap-ass skirt.

6. I don't wear Lolita a lot anymore because of my depression

I know, this might sound weird at first. So many people talk about how Lolita helps their mental illness so much. I wish I knew their secrets, because it often makes mine worse. Even if I fit into all my clothing, I usually feel too fat or not put together enough, so I'll angrily take it off and silently stew for a week, not even wanting to look in the closet. There was a time when I wore Lolita twice a week. Now, I only wear it once every few months.

7. I might not wear Lolita much anymore, but it still takes up most of my free time

If I'm not working or sleeping, I'm probably either reading Lolita blogs, browsing Tumblr for Lolita, perusing the secondhand sales, flipping through a Gothic & Lolita Bible, scanning Lolita forums, or rearranging my closet. I still love Lolita, I just can't seem to find a right time to wear it.

8. I'm a part of two comms...

...and I'm not really involved with either of them. I tried, halfheartedly, last year, and managed to attend more meetups than I've ever gone to in my three or four years of doing this. I seem to clam up when confronted with speaking to other Lolitas in person-- they're all so beautiful, and I never feel quite up to snuff. Someone even offered to just hang out with me on weekends once they found out that I was moving close by, and I haven't taken them up on that offer. They seem like a sweet person, I'm just shy and flaky as a pie crust.

9. I have a folder on my computer labelled "Pictures of Lolitas who give me that weird tingly stomach-in-throat i-want-my-life-to-look-like-this feeling"

That's the whole name, and I wish I was joking. It's not really an inspiration folder? It's more like... pictures of people who make me really sure that Lolita is what I want to do. I might never wear that dress in a million years, but damn it all if that picture doesn't make me fall in love with Lolita all over again. Flipping through it (and the three images just above are, indeed, from this folder), you notice that the coordinates aren't super fancy, but they still look special. Incidentally, this is a subfolder in a main folder entitled "Damn Lolita Fashion."

10. I "design" (draw) Lolita dresses for fun.

This was part of a tea party game: there were three
lists of words that you had to put together to make
the latest hot brand print. I went with "Fancy Poodle
Parade" or something like that, and it features velvet
bows and pompom trim.

I think a lot of us do this: we like to daydream about being Lolita designers, or being able to make our own things, but alas, the most we can achieve is drawing them. I used to do this all the time, and my favorite thing to do was use Princess Peachie's Lolita Fashion Generator as a sort of art prompt. I came up with some interesting things, too! It's a fun design exercise, and can help you keep drawing if you're in a bit of a slump or an art block. If I ever dig up that sketchbook, I'll see if I can make a post with some of my designs.

What are some things about your Lolita bubble? Let me know or link me to your own post in the comments below!

3 Trends I Wish Would Come Back

Fashion trends come and go like clockwork, and this is obviously true for any style. I remember that those Livestrong rubber wristbands were super popular in my junior high days (like gum, they often became currency), and then in high school, it was stylish to wear basketball shorts just under the waist beneath too-long, too-loose sweatpants, whose waistbands were to be rolled several times so that they could sit at the hips without tripping the girl wearing them. Welcome to the cornfields of Ohio, everyone :D

It's weird and green as far as the eye can see.

Anyway, Lolita is no different... except for the sweatpants, I guess. While it's true what most people say, that Lolita trends never really die or go away, and that a lot of the major trends of today have me really excited (an upswing in Classic and Old School styles!) there are still a few that I'd love to see make a comeback, which is why I thought this Lolita 52 Challenge topic would be perfect.

1. Fawn Fur

Fake, of course. FYeahLolita posted about this back in 2011, and I still daydream over it, even in the dead heat of summer. When I first got into Lolita, I remember that Baby was still selling its Sweet Fawn Beret, and it's been in the back of my mind ever since.

Beret aside, fawn fur to me is a perfect Sweet-Classic accessory material. The white-taupe-brown color scheme is perfectly versatile for both Sweet and Classic Lolitas, and adding it can make a coordinate go from simple to dressy, especially when the fur is paired with velvet ribbons, or give you a more cozy feeling in an autumn or winter outfit.

Unfortunately, I don't see this trend coming back any time soon. We're still reeling from the craze that was Haenuli's Enchanted Fawn print. Meanwhile, I'll keep dreaming, and keep my fingers crossed to find that cute Innocent World capelet somewhere on the sales sites...

2. The Natural Waist Silhouettes

This is one of my more biased preferences, because the natural and dropped waist dresses look a lot better on my figure than the current trend. Right now, the brands have been pumping out a lot of empire-waist and even higher dresses. This isn't new, they've been doing this en masse for a few years, and Baby has been putting out babydoll dresses since forever, but it's currently one of the main silhouettes for new releases.

Looking directly at you, AP

Anyway, I'm of the personal opinion that the natural waistline cuts are more flattering on more Lolitas. Obviously, everyone is different, and different people prefer how they look in different things, and that's fantastic, but this is just my personal preference, and I know that a lot of other bustier and plus-sized Lolitas feel similarly.

3. Full-Sized Hats



I love full-sized hats with Lolita, and not just the boaters and such you see during the summer. Victorian riding hats, the massive Edwardian pieces that are large enough to anchor a ship, and even fancy tophats! I don't know if these have ever really been a trend (bonnets ended becoming the go-to headwear for the current Classic craze), but it's still one that I'd enjoy looking at and participating in.

I found this hat on Etsy quite a while ago, and though it would be perfect for a themed coordinate I was planning (and still hope to one day make) based around Meta's Rabbit Cafe Frill JSK in black. The idea was to match one of the little rabbits in the print, complete with a red vest and a gold clock-themed necklace (and maybe a pair of tiny pink hearts just next to my eye).

What are some trends that you'd like to see return to Lolita? Let me know in the comments below!